Happy 2nd Gotcha Day to Hannah Grace!

Two years ago on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, my DH and I went down to animal control to look at the cats. We weren't intending to come home with a kitty, much less a sick on, but we did. We adopted a cute little malnourished waif of a cat who quickly wormed her way into our hearts.



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Hosted on Fotki


Little did we know how sick she was. She spent the first week of her life with us at the vet's with a very nasty upper respiratory infection. They didn't think she would survive the first night, but she did!! And we're ever so thankful. She's brought lots of love and laughter into our lives these past 2 years. She's a little cuddle bug when she's sleepy and full out terror when she's in play mode!

Happy Gotcha Day, Hannah Grace-girl!



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Hosted on Fotki




Hosted on Fotki

My Two Latest WIPs

First up is Little House Needleworks' City Stitcher, Country Stitcher. I'm stitching this as part of a SAL with some folks from one of the message boards I frequent. There's a bit boo-boo on the house, so when I go back to it, I'm going to start stitching on some other part of the design!! It's stiched on 32 ct. Toasted Almond linen using DMC & Crescent Colours fibers.



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My other WIP is La-D-Da's A Bushel & A Peck. It's stitched on 32 ct. Vintage Autumn Fields using Crescent Colours' Belle Soie silks. They are absolutely wonderful to work with!!



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I'm currently stitching on LHN's Wisdom Scripture pack. I'll post a pic of my progress soon.

TFL!!

Thought I Fell off the Face of the Earth??

Sometimes I feel like I have, but I'm still among the living!! Summer and the first part of Autumn have been very hectic! I got into a stitching slump and into a garden frenzy! Here's a pic of one of our flower beds in (almost) all of its glory.



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In October, my hubby fell 12' off a ladder while trimming the tree in our front yard and fractured 2 vertebrae in his back. He spent 15 days in the hospital mainly due to all the pain meds saturating his system. Basically, he had to detox, which was not a fun experience for either of us. He came home the end of October and he's doing splendidly. He just finished a 3-week round of in-home physical therapy. In another 3-4 weeks, he's hoping to start outpatient therapy at a nearby PT clinic.

Understandably, taking care of the husband has been my #1 priority. When he first came home from the hospital, he couldn't do anything for himself. I had to help him do everything...get into bed, out of bed, go to the potty, take a shower, turn over, sit up, sit down, get up, get down, get all his meals ready for him & clean up the dishes. It was exhausting work! I have just recently started sleeping through the night again. What a wonderful thing! I have a whole new appreciation for parenthood!!



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You can't tell it from this picture, but Mark has a hard plastic brace he has to wear. For the first month after surgery, he had to wear it 24/7 unless he was in bed. He couldn't even sit up on the side of the bed without it on! I quickly became proficient in getting that thing on him in the dark! Mark spent lots of nights in the recliner under the heated throw. Hannah soon discovered her a new napping spot! LOL She's not usually a cuddle bug, but I think she knew Mark was hurting and needed a little comforting.

I have done lots of stitching in the interim months. I'll post pics of my finishes in my next post! Or, if you're in a hurry to see them, you can check out my Fotki albums and see them all!

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Another Finish!!

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I stitched this Heart in Hand design for Robin in an exchange on the OOE board. It's made it to its new home in Virginia, so I can now share it with you! It's HIH's Liberty House Sampler and I converted the threads to Crescent Colours. It's stitched on 32 ct. Vintage Country Mocha linen. It was a very fun and quick piece to stitch!!

I'm currently working on a little graduation piece for my niece. Her graduation is Saturday, but I don't think I'm going to have it finished by then! LOL

La-D-Da's Bushel and a Peck Progress

I have been stitching exclusively on gifts and exchanges the past 2 months, so yesterday, I decided to work on my incentive piece. Here's my before & afters.

Before:

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After 4 hours yesterday:

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I'm stitching this on 32 ct. Vintage Autumn Fields linen using Belle Soie silks from Crescent Colours.

Back to an exchange piece today.....!!!

ABC Exchange Piece

I stitched Bent Creek's Neighborhood Row for my ABC exchange piece at the OOE board. I went with a piece of 32 count linen I found in my stash and GAST, WDW, and a couple of CCs thrown in for good measure. It has safely arrived at its destination, so I can now show it off!!


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A Finish!!

But...I can't show it yet! LOL Just finished an exchange piece (a very late exchange piece) and it looks GREAT! Can't wait to post a pic for everyone to see. Have moved onto another exchange piece.

Still Alive!

I'm still alive and still stitching, just not much. I'm working on an exchange piece and a little gift piece, so I can't post pics yet. I have been spending oodles of time out in my garden, though!! Here's last year's garden with a few new additions for this year.



I added a trailing lantana in front of my butterfly bush, a May Night salvia and a pincushion plant in the front border. Yesterday we raked away all the mulch from last year and put down a layer of compost from last year's compost pile. Then we reapplied the mulch and fed the plants. I need to add some more as some places are a bit thin on the mulch. I also released some ladybugs because I had some aphids on my coreopsis.

Started Something New

Well, I started 2 new somethings, but I can only share one with you. The other is a gift, so will be awhile before I can share that one.

I started the "Peace" threadpack from LHN/CC last week so I could take it on the marriage retreat DH & I went on. Decided to go with a blue fabric to have a change from the neutrals/browns I've been stitching on lately. Here's my start.



I think it's turning out nicely!! Not sure when I'll get back to this as my stitching plate is quite full at the moment, but at least I've got a good start!

Spring is Here!

At least in my stitching! LOL Finished Lizzie*Kate's Spring-ily Boxer Jr. today. I actually finished the stitching a few days ago, but just got around to attaching the buttons and ironing it today. The kit comes with some boring piece of linen, so I changed it out to 28 ct. Moonglow linen from Picture This Plus. I used Crescent Colours, GAST, and WDW fibers.

Tried Something Different for Dinner

The other night, I had 2 packages of stew meat in the fridge, but it was too warm for stew, so I decided to try something different. I made foil dinners!! Being a Girl Scout for 20 years or so, I've eaten my fair share of foil dinners, but I've never thought of making them at home.

My foil dinners had onions, sliced potatoes, carrots, green beans, very thinly sliced celery (for seasoning), and very thinly sliced bell pepper in them. I made a total of 5 packets and some I topped with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Others I used seasoned salt, and on 1 I sprinkled some Italian salad dressing mix on. Cooked them at 450º for 50 mins and they were delish!!

While I used beef stew meat, you could use chicken breasts, round steak, or cubed steak. You could even marinate the meat overnight for a different flavor. Also, you can pretty much use any kind of veggies you have on hand, or some partially frozen veggies if that's all you have.

Give 'em a try!! You'll like it!

February's Ornament Finished

One of my goals each month is to stitch a Christmas ornament. In my ideal world, these would be finished into a beautiful work of art to show off my stitching and hung on my Christmas tree (or on someone else's tree if it's a gift) each year. However, most of my finished ornaments reside in a lovely plastic tote waiting to be finished into beautiful works of art.

This month, I stitched Little House Needlework's Pine Tree Hill from the November, 2006 JCS magazine. It's stitched entirely in Crescent Colours fibers on a piece of 28 ct. Toasted Almond linen. It was a fun stitch!! I especially love the red in this one!



I'm now stitching on a cute little piece for spring, which I hope to finish up and post a pic of in the next few days.

A Finish!

Ladybugs & Bumblebees is history! I put the final stitches in this piece yesterday after work. What fun I've had working on this project. I just love the soft browns and pinks. (Pink is my favorite color.) I hope to finish up my ornie today, and then move onto a new project on Monday.